For the very first time in the 49-year history of racing at The Meadowlands, three noses couldn't be separated at the wire, resulting in a triple dead heat in the third race on Saturday, Jan. 18.

Stone Cold Savage (Mark Herschberger, $5.40), Woodrow F Call (Tyler Miller, $4.40) and Spirit Of Truth (Johnathan Ahle, $42.60) hit the wire together in 1:54 in the TrackMaster 74.5 for pacers, and when the judges could not separate the trio, the result was the first triple dead heat for win in Meadowlands history.

It was nearly a quadruple dead heat as a fast-closing Urban Renewal (Jason Bartlett) finished just 21/100ths of a second behind the three winners.

Later on in the card, For Once Inmy Life shrugged off an outside post – as well as a tough trip – on the way to taking the Saturday night feature, a $25,362 high-end conditioned pace, in a sparkling 1:50.3.

“He has a heart of gold and is a pleasure to drive,” said winning pilot Jordan Stratton. “He’s put every foot forward in the right spot and hasn’t shown me any bad signs.”

Venturesome Arden N (Jim Marohn Jr.) and Stellar Yankee (Brett Beckwith) left the gate quickly and were involved in a turn-one scrum with Heza Charttopper A (Jason Bartlett) for early supremacy. After having to race five-wide into that bend, For Once Inmy Life – who left from post nine in the nine-horse field – had to stay in the flow, waiting for Heza Charttoper A to clear at the three-eighths before taking the point away from the 2-1 second choice, reaching the half in :55.4 after having a rough time getting there.

Stratton was permitted to rate the third fraction back to :28.4, and after three-quarters was timed in 1:24.3, For Once Inmy Life sped clear of Heza Charttopper A, hitting the finish an explosive 4-3/4 lengths to the good after a final-quarter sprint in :26. Venturesome Arden N finished third.

“That third quarter was pretty soft,” said Stratton. “I kind of over-drove him last week [when second to Brue Hanover]. Today, he was nice and relaxed and sprinted home.”

Trained by Jordan’s brother, Cory for owner Winters Racing Stable, For Once Inmy Life returned $3.40 to win as the 3-5 favourite. The five-year-old gelded son of Downbytheseaside-Flyme To The Moon now has nine wins in 44 career tries, good for earnings just shy of $400,000.

A rare 10-cent Hi-5 carryover of $12,939 led to players plunging $78,176 of “new money” into the pool for the 14th and final race of the night for a total pot of $91,115. Its In The Stars, the 6-5 favourite, topped the winning combination of 5-2-7-1-9, which returned $180.81.

Mark Herschberger and Johnathan Ahle led the driver colony with three wins apiece. Maria Reid and Jeff Cullipher paced the conditioners as each recorded a training double.

All-source handle totalled $2,978,919 USD for the 14-race card.

Racing resumes on Friday, Jan. 24 at 6:20 p.m.

(With files from Meadowlands Racetrack)